The government of Nova Scotia, Canada recently dissolved a nonprofit organization, Gambling Awareness Nova Scotia (GANS), that funds gambling prevention and research groups, and redirected the money to a general mental health pool.
The money, about $250,000 annually, is generated from a percentage of video lottery terminal revenues.
One of the groups that was getting that funding, Gambling Risk Informed Nova Scotia, is criticizing the decision. Its chairman, Bruce Dienes declared last week, “In the middle of Covid … isn’t there more of a need to do this prevention work and community awareness work?” He added, “This is the time when people are most vulnerable.”
The Department of Health, Dienes said, has told him that comorbidities of gambling that are also associated with depression and anxiety and that this justifies sharing the money more widely.
Department spokeswoman Marla MacInnis said in a statement: “Problem gambling often occurs with other mental health and addictions issues, and due to the stigma, people often initially seek help for other issues. It’s best if people can access support that addresses these issues together.”
The pandemic has dramatically decreased the numbers of people in the province gambling.
However, the Nova Scotia Department of Finance and Atlantic Lottery have said that Atlantic Lottery may soon be implementing casino style games online in the province.
Greg Weston, a spokesman with Atlantic Lottery, said that regulated online casinos would be preferable to the 3,000 illegal websites now available.
He commented, “One benefit would be to repatriate players now playing with illegal offshore providers, and by doing so repatriating money being spent on offshore sites to help fund public services to benefit Atlantic Canadians.”
